Generally, in a vehicle in which an internal combustion engine is mounted, heat generated at the time of an operation of an engine is conducted to a cylinder head, a piston, a valve, and the like. Therefore, when a temperature of components is excessively increased, a strength of the components is reduced, engine lifespan is reduced, and a combustion state is also poor in response to thermal expansion or deterioration to lead to knocking or pre-ignition, thereby reducing an output of the engine.
Further, when the engine is incompletely cooled, a lubricating function such as a separation of an oil film of an inner circumferential surface of the cylinder is reduced and engine oil is spoiled, such that an abnormal abrasion of the cylinder may be caused and the piston may be fused to an inner wall of the cylinder.
Meanwhile, in the vehicle, electronic components which are electric and electronic components including a motor, an inverter, a battery stack, and the like in addition to the engine need to be cooled. Therefore, cooling water passing through the engine and cooling water passing through the electronic components have a predetermined difference in temperature. As a result, the vehicle does not have a single cooling system.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a cooling system for a vehicle, in which FIG. 1A illustrates an engine cooling system 10 and FIG. 1B illustrates an electronic component cooling system 20.
In more detail, an engine cooling system 10 is configured to include a water pump 15 which circulates cooling water for cooling an engine 1, a first radiator 11 which cools the cooling water, a first cooling water storage tank 13 which supplies the cooling water to the first radiator 11, and a first cooling water control cap 12.
In the engine cooling system 10, the first radiator 11, the water pump 15, and the engine 1 are connected to one another through a first connection line 14.
Further, the electronic component cooling system 20 is configured to include a water pump 25 which circulates cooling water for cooling an electronic component 2, a second radiator 21 which cools the cooling water, a second cooling water storage tank 23 which supplies the cooling water to the second radiator 21, and a second cooling water control cap 22.
In this configuration, the electronic component cooling system 20 illustrates an example in which the electronic component 2 is configured to include an inverter and a combined starter and generator.
Further, similar to the engine cooling system 10, in the electronic component cooling system 20, the second radiator 21, the water pump 24, and the electronic component 2 are also connected to one another through a second connection line 24.
In this configuration, the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 21 configure a cooling module 50, including a condenser 30 and a fan and shroud assembly 40 and are heat exchanged with traveling wind and air introduced through the fan and shroud assembly 40.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the cooling module 50.
However, in the case of the form illustrated in FIG. 2, a size of the condenser 30 is reduced by a formation area of the second radiator 21, and therefore the condenser 30 is difficult to obtain sufficient condensing efficacy and the second radiator 21 is also difficult to sufficiently secure an amount of cooling water flowing therein.
Meanwhile, as another cooling module 50, an example in which the first radiator 11, the second radiator 21, and the condenser 30 are arranged in parallel is proposed, but a size of the cooling module 50 is increased due to a thickness of the components themselves and an interval between the components and thus the cooling module 50 is difficult to be miniaturized.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a cooling module capable of being miniaturized while sufficiently securing the performance of each of the first radiator, the second radiator, and the condenser which configure the cooling module.